Sandiganbayan convicts Bulacan judge for bribery

For accepting a bribe of P20,000 in exchange for a favorable ruling in a 2003 case, a Bulacan judge faces up to three years in jail.

 

A Special Fifth Division of the Sandiganbayan has found Judge Henry Domingo “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” for the crime of indirect bribery under Article 211 of the Revised Penal Code.

 

Domingo, a former municipal trial judge of San Ildefonso, Bulacan, was sentenced to imprisonment of at least six months and one day up to three years, six months and 21 days, for accepting a bribe in exchange of a favorable ruling over a falsification of documents case he presided over.

 

The anti-graft court ruled that Domingo’s defense that he was framed is farfetched and was unsubstantiated.

 

“The defense of frame up, just like denial and alibi, is looked with disfavor by the Supreme Court because it could be easily concocted. To substantiate the said claim, clear and convincing evidence must be presented,” the resolution, penned by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang said.

 

“The accused’s unsubstantiated denial cannot prevail over the totality of the prosecution’s evidence...which established with moral certainty the accused’s guilty of the crime of indirect bribery,” the resolution added. 

 

Domingo’s case stems from a complaint filed by one Ildefenso Cuevas with the National Bureau of Investigation. In 2003, Cuevas, who faced a falsification of public documents charge, said he was invited into Domingo’s chambers, where the judge offered to rule in his favor in exchange for cash.

 

Domingo was arrested on Feb. 17, 2003 during an entrapment operation conducted by the NBI at the La Familia Restaurant in Baliwag, Bulacan, where he was caught in possession of P10,000 in cash and a check with the amount P10,000 that he received from Cuevas. — RSJ, GMA News